The beer is near!

If you plan on drinking at the Lititz Craft Beer Fest on Sept. 27, you better get your hands on tickets soon. In its inaugural year, 2014, the all-craft beer gathering eventually sold out and raised $57,000 for local charities. Beer lovers quickly recognized the festival’s unique ability to provide many high-level brewers while attracting many local beer makers. Now, for 2015, tickets are being snatched up at an incredible rate.

I recently sat down for a pint with co-organizers Patrick Moulds and Jason Best to get the story on this year’s event — which will again take place on Main St.

“In the first couple days of having our tickets on sale we sold 50 percent of our tickets,” said Moulds. “There are only about 500 left.”

“We are close to 75 percent sold out right now,” added Best. “Don’t wait to get tickets!”

This crew clearly had a great time at last year’s Craft Beer Fest in downtown Lititz. Will they be back this September? Only if they have a ticket, and tickets are going fast. (Photo by Mike Shull)

The duo said tickets are selling at a pace of 50 tickets per day. Lititz Craft Beer Fest will again bring some of the most popular craft brewers in the country like Stone Brewing Company (California), Sixpoint Brewery (New York), and New Belgium (Colorado, and soon North Carolina). The event is also getting some of the newest regional breweries like Crystal Ball Brewing Company (West York), Mad Chef (East Petersburg), and Funk Brewing (Emmaus) into the mix. Outside of Pennsylvania, new additions like Allagash Brewing Company (Maine) and Jack’s Abby Brewing (Framingham, Mass.) are sure to impress drinkers. The Portland-based Allagash specializes in Belgian-style beers; their flagship Allagash White is one of my favorite beers. Jack’s Abby brews only lagers and has five, boundary pushing, year round brews.

“We’re beer people,” said Moulds, “so we like to bring in some good local breweries that people love, but we also want to bring in breweries that other festivals do not have.”

Of course, the event is not all about beer. The Ambucs fundraiser provides entertainment and food for purchase from local food trucks and vendors. Performers Clint Hibshman, The Heavy Push, and Two Pints Shy will take the main stage during the festival.

“We are raising money for a good cause, but this is still about the town and the people,” said Moulds.

In an effort to express that mission, Moulds said the decision was made to keep the prices at $40 (as they were last year), but include more breweries. Only 2,000 tickets are available.

“We’re obviously looking to pick up people locally to rally around our cause and the town of Lititz,” added Best. “But, we are also looking to pick up the ‘beer geeks’ who are looking for something different.”

Keeping with the open flow of foot traffic from last year, admission will begin a half an hour or hour before the event so people can queue up to their first sampling or enjoy some food. The event is free to designated drivers and spectators. Imbibing ticket holders will be given wrist bands.

“There are more exciting things to come as we engage with breweries and finalize participation,” said Best. He encouraged interested readers to keep up with the festival’s website, lititzcraftbeerfest.com, and posts to Facebook at facebook.com/LititzCraftBeerFest.

Michael C. Upton is a freelance writer specializing in arts and leisure. He welcomes comments at somepromcu@gmail.com and facebook.com/SomebodiesProductions.